Is Playster Rejecting LGBT+ Books?

Censorship by any other name…

The Active Voice

PlaysterValuesLike many indie authors, I distribute my books to some retail platforms through Draft2Digital, a company I’ve always found to be competent, responsive, and trustworthy. At some point in the fairly recent past, D2D added Playster to its roster of retail platforms. Playster is a digital entertainment subscription service that includes ebooks, similar to Scribd, Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program, and the now-defunct Oyster: for $9.95 a month, you can access what Playster advertises as a library of more than 250,000 “premium titles” — “the world’s only truly unlimited ebook service” (source).

Playster’s site is full of the rhetoric of freedom and limitlessness — attempts, I assume, to play off the name of Amazon’s program while distinguishing itself from Scribd, which restricts borrowing within certain genres. Just a sampling: “Entertainment Unlimited is about freedom of choice, and that’s what we’re giving you with Playster” (source); “The best…

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Author Influences : Donna George Storey

If you appreciate erotic writing, if you wish to learn more about the craft, there is no better way than going inside the mind of Donna George Storey.

Emmanuelle de Maupassant

If you’re a fan of erotic fiction, you’re probably familiar with the incredible writing of Donna George Storey, where storytelling and scorchingly hot scenes combine in perfect harmony.

Donna tells us, “Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved the way a good story can transport me to another world, giving the magical sense of living another person’s life. I’d always been drawn to creating stories and characters of my own. I wrote a novella for my senior thesis in college, but then didn’t write creatively for another 14 years! In my mid-thirties, after a stint in academia and the birth of my first child, my urge to write creatively returned with a new intensity. I not only began to write with great passion, but began to read with a new eye and a new appreciation for the art and craft of storytelling.”

“Authors who impressed me at that time were…

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The Only Rule Amazon Truly Cares About

Another cautionary tale about Amazon.

David Gaughran

On Monday, I found out that some bug hit a German e-book site causing the reactivation of long-dead listings, including one of mine, putting myself and some other authors in breach of KDP Select’s exclusivity rule.

Amazon pounced into action and cancelled my Countdown deal which was scheduled for this week, screwing up a carefully planned promotion. And despite pledging to resolve the matter and restore the promo, Amazon has not done so.

I’m going to go through what happened in detail so you can be sure that I acted correctly at all points – because there is a lot of shadiness going on at the moment – but feel free to skim some of the details if you wish.

Let’s Get Digital and Let’s Get Visible had never been in Select, so I decided to throw them in for one term as an experiment at the start of July…

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The Obsolete Narrative Devices Support Group

A wee bit of fun for your morning!

Tara Sparling writes

Lights come up slowly to full fluorescence on a room, drab and industrial in décor, one wall cracked in several places. Empty chairs are arranged in an uneven circle: after a moment, figures drift in and take their seats. Last to arrive is the THERAPIST, clad head to toe in black, carrying a small clipboard and sporting the sort of smile which makes small children fear what’s good for them.

THERAPIST: Hello everybody! I’d like to start today’s session with—

A thin, nervous figure puts up his hand, clearing his throat repeatedly.

OPENING TITLE SEQUENCE: Excuse me? Please? Begging your pardon?

THERAPIST: [sighing] Yes, Opening Title Sequence?

OPENING TITLE SEQUENCE: [clearing throat weakly once again] It’s just that I usually start the meeting—

THERAPIST: Yes, yes, I know. But you must understand: it’s not actually helping you, to keep doing this. As I’ve said before…

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The Smart Contract Future: Freeing Creatives from Amazon Forever

Great post!

Brad Vance Author

How do I Hate Thee, Amazon? Let Me Count the Ways. The technology I’m about to discuss will inevitably blow Amazon out of the creative content market, and the list below, of how awful Amazon is to content creators, is why it’s going to happen so much faster that the tech alone would dictate…

As a self published writer and audiobook producer for five years now, I’ve seen every ugly trick Amazon has up their sleeves. They’ve finished their Walmart-ization of the ebook publishing industry, luring us all in with absurdly high KU royalties for exclusivity, destroying all competing platforms, and then, just like Walmart, saying to their suppliers, “We’re the only game in town now, so we’re cutting the price we pay you and you can like it or… well, go out of business.”

But there’s hope for us, not in the form of a new website, but a…

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DESPITE TRUMP PROMISE – BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT BREAKS RULE OF LAW MAKING EXTINCTION ALL BUT INEVITABLE FOR WILD HORSES & BURROS

It’s up to us to save this national treasure.

Straight from the Horse's Heart

Press Release from Wild Horse Freedom Federation

Wild Horse Freedom Federation’s White Paper exposes BLM: Never-seen evidence proves America’s wild horses and burros are disappearing without explanation

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

photo by Carol Walker

Pinehurst, Texas—(PR NEWSWIRE)— Wild Horse Freedom Federation, Inc. (WHFF), today released its white paper, “Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse & Burro Program, with a Focus on Problems Related to Holding Facilities.” America’s wild horses and burros – long a national treasure and symbol of freedom – are endangered and being pushed towards extinction, despite the Trump administration’s promise to uphold the rule of law.

The comprehensive white paper cites taxpayer waste and multitudes of inconsistencies in documentation presented to both the American public and Congress.  These alleged offenses continue to occur under the direction of Trump-appointed Secretary of the Department of Interior (DOI), Ryan Zinke.

WHFF’s document notes current and historical violations that include…

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Scammers Break The Kindle Store

Yes, Amazon is broken and they don’t seem to care. The solution is to make noise, contact them, complain. My experience is that Amazon chooses to PUNISH the person trying to make a case against the spammers and cheaters.
Amazon… it’s dead, Jim.

David Gaughran

On Friday, a book jumped to the #1 spot on Amazon, out of nowhere; it quickly became obvious that the author had used a clickfarm to gatecrash the charts.

The Kindle Store is officially broken.

This is not the first time this has happened and Amazon’s continued inaction is increasingly baffling. Last Sunday, a clickfarmed title also hit #1 in the Kindle Store. And Amazon took no action.

Over the last six weeks, one particularly brazen author has put four separate titles in the Top 10, and Amazon did nothing whatsoever. There are many such examples.

I wrote at the start of June about how scammers were taking over Amazon’s free charts. That post led to a phone conversation with KDP’s Executive Customer Relations.

Repeated assurances were given that the entire leadership team at Amazon was taking the scammer problem very seriously indeed. But it was also stressed that the…

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Back in the Saddle with a New Audiobook: THE 90 DAY RULE #Sportsromance

Now out in Audiobook!

Narrated by J.R. Lowe

The 90 Day Rule (Diane Nelson)

Sports romance with sass

 

When playing by the rules means stepping over the line…

Sometimes starting over means trying out assault and battery, especially when the object d’ violence is a cheating husband caught in the act. Restraining orders aside, safety comes in numbers and having certain … standards.

For Jessamine chaos and capitulation are facts of life. Giving up dreams to service her husband’s ambitions and enabling the same blind submission in her own daughter ends abruptly, leaving her rootless, homeless and destitute.

For some people, it is the kindness of strangers who make the difference but for Jes it is the unlikely alliance of the mother-in-law-from-hell, a devastatingly handsome basketball coach and a phalanx of determined team members who convince a woman of a certain age that beginning again doesn’t mean giving up or giving in.

The only problem is … there’s that pesky 90 day rule.

Excerpt:

Jack glared at me, our bodies locked in a rigid stand-off, guns cocked, ready to unleash with both barrels.

He answered my unspoken question with one of his own. “When he pressed you, what did you do?”

Huh?

“Roddie. He was all over you. What. Did. You. Do?” Each word was punctuated with latent aggression.

“I pushed back.”

“Exactly.” Jack leaned in, so close it made me afraid. Terrified. Because I knew what was coming.

“You are a force of nature out there, Jes, a warrior. Nothing on God’s earth can stop you when you go after what you want.”

But that was different. It was a game. Just a game. Wasn’t it?

“It’s not just a game. Not to people like us. We live and breathe the same air, Jessamine Cavanaugh.” He stroked my collar bone, his voice ragged and needy. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

AMAZON

AUDIOBOOK

AUDIBLE

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Cocktails for Ten Box Set #Suspense #Mystery #Romance #99c #Sale

COCKTAILS FOR TEN brings you a splendid collection of FULL-LENGTH suspense, mystery and romance novels, including my own POINTS ON A CURVE!

All at the incredible bargain price of 99c!

Rob’s a sports journalist looking to score a headline but finds more than he bargained for. Tay’s an ex-basketball star hiding from her past, Rob’s the one who smells a story. When Rob and Tay meet, they take dinner and romance to a whole ‘nother level.

Amazon Reviewer says (http://amzn.to/1d9ISSJ): “Entertaining and intelligent. My preconceived notion about most romance novels was that they are entertaining but they tend to be fluff, the junk food of literature. Points on a Curve has proven to me that I need to put aside preconceived notions or I might miss out on something special.”

EXCERPT:

While Arturo and a squad of ranch hands busied themselves artfully arranging small boat-like white platters of bits and bobs of undercooked seafood, I put on my Prince Charming face, smiled brightly and said, “So my sister tells me you’re in school.”

Wrinkling her nose at the punte di asparagi, she kept one eye on the grilled octopus and the other on my finger tapping an unconscious SOS on my wine glass.

“Yes.”

Yes, I’ll fight you to the death for a piece of that knubby flesh swimming with capers and cherry tomatoes, or … yes, I’m in school. Or yes to something else.

Hard to tell, and not the best of starts.

One of the helpers graced my vicinity with bloody beef tenderloin covered with parmigiano shavings. Forgiving the gods of culinary science for fouling it with arugula and hearts of palm, I speared it with the outside fork and narrowly missed an opportunity for a quick foray to St. Luke’s emergency room for stab wounds.

Miz Tay was as quick as I suspected and she wanted that bloody bite of meat as much as, maybe more than, I did. The forks squared off in an Italian standoff worthy of the Godfather.

A gentleman would have relinquished all rights to the raw meat. I wasn’t a gentleman.

Being a lefty gave me a slight advantage. I kept the impaled temptation in place and secured my fair share with a swift, deft slice across the grain.

While Her Ladyship demurely slid the dripping bit onto her plate, I did a lift and drizzle across the dazzling white linen tablecloth, leaving a trail of shame.

Cordie blanched and looked up at some point over my shoulder. Arturo was there, he had to be. Fortunately, the kitchen noises ramped up at that point, drowning out whatever the waitstaff was thinking sotto voce.

Satisfied with the easy layup, I shoved the entire wad of tenderloin in my mouth and chewed contently. At least it gave me something to do with my mouth, because conversation wasn’t happening.

One of the minions anticipated my interest in the calamari and smoothly deposited a selection onto the plate. I nodded my thanks and slipped a quick look to my right.

She was still there. Lips pursed, not chewing.

Fink’s words washed over me as I set my fork down and waited for my sister’s next bright idea.

I was looking down the gullet of insalate, more fish, a cappuccino and desert with two forks. Then off to the theater to jam myself into a seat designed for someone five feet tall, and try not to doze off during the overture.

The adage no good deed goes unpunished sprang to mind.

Cordie giggled, reminding me of how easy it was to devil my favorite sister, and how much I loved hearing her laugh.

With nothing in mind other than to force more than a yes or no, I turned to Taylor-the-prim during a lull in the general din and asked, “So, how many times have you been divorced?”

I’ve never actually had my balls shrivel from a look, but there was a first time for everything.

Points on a Curve is also available in #audiobook narrated by Kellie Kamryn

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An Open Letter To The 20-Year-Old Faceless Girl On My Book Cover

Oy yeah, this… so many times THIS!

Tara Sparling writes

Open Letter To The 20-Year-Old Faceless Girl On My Book Cover

I know it isn’t technically your fault. You didn’t ask to be there.

One day you’re just a working model standing on a beach, a clifftop, a bridge, or under a lamppost; the next, you’re blazing across bookshelves and bookshop windows, the cover girl of a bestseller.

I know you were just thinking to earn a few quid, getting your photograph taken whilst preserving your anonymity (because your job is to never face the camera, and girl, are you GOOD at that). You didn’t ask to be the Faceless Representative Of All Femininity. And yet, here you are.

Or rather there you are, your twenty-year-old legs firmly planted on the soil of whichever dreamy landscape was photoshopped around you. There you are, your twenty-year-old arms lithe and long, clutching that old-fashioned handbag, quaintly addressed letter, or hand of a small child. There you are, facing away from me, your slim and trim twenty-year-old body…

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